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AIRWFoundation·Clinical Deterioration & Acute Care

Oxygen Therapy and Airway Basics for Ward Staff

Give oxygen correctly, recognise a compromised airway, and act within your scope.

Oxygen Therapy and Airway Basics for Ward Staff

Program overview

Oxygen is a drug and is routinely given without a target, a prescription or a review. This course covers safe oxygen therapy — target saturation ranges including the hypercapnic patient, device selection and actual delivered concentrations, humidification, monitoring and weaning — alongside basic airway assessment: recognising obstruction, simple positioning and adjunct manoeuvres, and knowing precisely where your scope ends and escalation begins. Written for ward and outpatient staff rather than for anaesthetic or critical care practitioners.

Why this program

Oxygen treated as a prescribed drug with targets

Device selection matched to actual delivered concentration

Airway content kept strictly within ward scope

Includes the hypercapnic patient

Who it is for

NurseAllied HealthPhysicianStudentParamedic

Program objectives

  • Explain why oxygen requires a target range and a prescription
  • Select an oxygen delivery device appropriate to the required concentration
  • Apply appropriate saturation targets including for hypercapnic patients
  • Monitor and wean oxygen therapy safely
  • Recognise the signs of airway compromise
  • Apply positioning and simple adjuncts within your scope of practice

Learning outcomes

  • Select an appropriate oxygen device and flow for a described requirement
  • Apply the correct saturation target to a described patient
  • Recognise airway obstruction from described signs
  • Apply a simple airway manoeuvre appropriate to scope
  • Identify the escalation point for a compromised airway
  • Evaluate an oxygen prescription for appropriateness

Curriculum

Module 1: Oxygen Is a Drug

1 lessons
  • Oxygen Is a DrugPreview

    Targets, prescription, and the harm of too much.

Module 2: Devices and Delivered Concentration

1 lessons
  • Devices and Delivered Concentration

Module 3: The Hypercapnic Patient

1 lessons
  • The Hypercapnic Patient

Module 4: Recognising Airway Compromise

1 lessons
  • Recognising Airway Compromise

Module 5: Within Your Scope

1 lessons
  • Within Your Scope

Duration and structure

2.5h
Total study hours
2h
Content
0.5h
Assessment

5 lessons across 5 modules. Duration is expressed in study hours.

What you receive

Verifiable AIHCM digital certificate

This certificate confirms completion of Oxygen Therapy and Airway Basics for Ward Staff. Duration is expressed in study hours.

Delivery format

  • Self-paced — start any time.
  • Study on any device.
  • Lifetime access to the version you enrolled in.

Program handbook

Open the program handbook (print / save as PDF)